2 sentenced to 5-yr imprisonment for cheating bank

Two brothers has been sentenced by the local court to five years’ rigorous imprisonment for cheating a bank of Rs 1.33 crores here in Thane.

The court of Thane Additional Sessions Judge U B Shukla held brothers – Rajiv Hariram Chimnani and Sanjay Hariram Chimnani – guilty under sections 420 and 471 of the IPC and sentenced them to five years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000 each, failing which they will have to undergo another three months’ imprisonment.

The duo was found guilty of cheating the Syndicate Bank from Vashi of Rs 1.33 crores.

In the cheating racket that went on for about six years from 2003, there were a total of 11 accused, of whom only three were arrested. The eight others have been absconding since the beginning of the case.

The court tried the three arrested accused and found two of them guilty while the third person was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Additional public prosecutor P D Lahane told the court that the accused had indulged in fraudulent means and duped the bank to the tune of Rs 1,33,48,000 between 2003 and 2009.

He said the accused had made use of fake documents with the help of fabricated seals and produced the documents as original in the bank at Vashi township of Navi Mumbai and obtained loans ranging from Rs 2 to 26.78 lakhs.

They had also got the fake franking seal of government stamp duty done and made use of the same to authenticate the fabricated documents and thus cheated the government too, the prosecution told the court.